Expert: Police Had No Choice But To Shoot Tamir Rice

By Bob Owens

A third police use-of-force expert has concluded that Cleveland Police Officer Timothy Loehmann had no choice but to shoot 5’7″, 195 lbs Tamir Rice after the Rice reached for a very realistic-looking handgun in his waistband:

A white Cleveland police officer had no choice but to fatally shoot a 12-year-old black boy carrying a pellet gun, an expert on police use of force said in a report released publicly Thursday by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office.

Retired Florida police officer W. Ken Katsaris is the third expert who has concluded that patrolman Timothy Loehmann was justified in shooting Tamir Rice outside a Cleveland recreation center Nov. 22, 2014.

The release of the latest report comes at a time when a county grand jury is hearing evidence from prosecutors to determine whether criminal charges should be filed against Loehmann, who was a rookie a year ago, and his training officer, patrolman Frank Garmback.

“This unquestionably was a tragic loss of life,” Katsaris wrote. “But to compound the tragedy by labeling the officers’ conduct as anything but objectively reasonable would also be a tragedy.”

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Attorneys for the family of Tamir …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms